Poster #141 - Attachment Toward Parental Figures and Behavioural Adjustment Among Canadian First Nations Youth: A Longitudinal Investigation

• In Event: Poster Session 17

Abstract

Despite the deleterious intergenerational impact of colonization, Indigenous youth in Canada continue to demonstrate resilience, adaptability, and potential for success (Burack et al., 2019; Chandler & Lalonde, 2009; Kirmayer et al., 2011). In understanding factors that promote the positive development of Indigenous youth, the establishment and maintenance of positive relationships have emerged as essential. For example, among Indigenous youth, parental involvement and warmth have been linked to better behavioural, social, and emotional adjustment (D’Arrisso, 2019; LaFromboise et al., 2006; Moon et al., 2014). The goal of this study was to explore changes in self-reported internalizing and externalizing behaviours over time in relation to perceived attachment with maternal and paternal figures. The data were taken from the database of a longstanding collaboration with a remote First Nations community in northern Quebec, Canada. The participants were 90 First Nations youth (46 girls) who were between the ages of 13 and 16 years between 2011 to 2019. Perceived attachment toward maternal and paternal figures, regardless of their biological status, was measured using two subscales from the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA; Armsden & Greenberg, 1987). The Youth Self-Report (YSR; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) was used to measure self-reported internalizing and externalizing behaviours. Multilevel linear growth curves were used to model changes in externalizing and internalizing behaviour across ages 13 to 16 years. Our primary finding was that perceived attachment toward both sets of parental figures negatively predicted externalizing behaviours at age 13 years (maternal figures γ01=-0.29, p=.013; paternal figures γ01=-0.20, p=.021). Self-reported externalizing behaviours (γ10=-0.17, p=.665) did not significantly change between ages 13 and 16 years, with minimal departures between participants from this trend (σ²<2.56, p>.310), whereas a nonsignificant negative trend between ages 13 and 16 years was evident for internalizing behaviours (γ10=-0.88, p=.067). Perceived attachment toward paternal figures was not associated with changes in externalizing behaviour over time (γ10=0.05, p=.181), whereas a nonsignificant trend was found with maternal figures (γ10=0.06, p=.071). Attachment toward parental figures did not predict internalizing behaviours at age 13 years (maternal figures γ01<-0.01, p=.995; paternal figures γ01=0.01, p=.795) or changes over time (maternal figures γ10=-0.06, p=.324; paternal figures γ10=-0.09, p=.157). The findings are evidence of the role of support and involvement from parental figures in mitigating the development of externalizing problems among a specific group of Canadian First Nations youth during middle adolescence. In addition, they also merit future research to elucidate the nonsignificant yet relatively consistent negative trend between attachment toward parental figures and internalizing behaviours. These findings linking attachment to parental figures and indicators of well-being among Indigenous youth are further evidence of the power of intergenerational transmission of resilience and strength among Indigenous communities.

Authors

• Jessica Lai, McGill University
  Presenting Author

• Anna-Francesca Boatswain-Jacques, McGill University

• Océane Bellon

• William Lum, McGill University

• Roisin O'Connor, Concordia University

• Dennis C. Wendt, McGill University

• Jacob Ari (Jake) Burack, McGill University